Review: 'Medal of Honor: Warfighter'

This undated publicity photo provided by Electronic Arts Inc. shows a scene from the video game "Medal of Honor: Warfighter." Navy officials said last week that seven members of the secretive Navy SEAL Team 6, including one involved in the mission to take down Osama bin Laden, were reprimanded for disclosing classified information to the creators of "Warfighter," a modern-day, first-person shooter from developer Danger Close Games and publisher Electronic Arts Inc. released Oct. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Electronic Arts Inc.)

"Call of Duty" has always been Electronic Art's Moby Dick. "Duty" is the No. 1 shooter, and it's a title EA has long coveted. With an Ahab-like intensity, EA has thrown major franchises and manpower to catch up to and surpass Activision's behemoth.

The most recent attempt, "Medal of Honor: Warfighter," tries to outdo the modern warfare of "Call of Duty" by focusing on realism and current events. The driving force is the idea that if it's in the news, it's in the game.

"Warfighter," a sequel to the recent reboot, focuses on the Tier 1 operators (ie. Navy SEALs and the like) as they race around the globe trying to locate a powerful explosive called PETN that's in the hands of terrorists. While that's the driving force behind the combat, the developer, Danger Close Games, also looks at the personal lives of these servicemen.

It tries to to show the effect deployments have on these military families, but the splintered narrative fails at building any emotional connection. Although it works in later levels, the split story between Preacher, the protagonist, and Stump, the new addition to the special ops team, removes players from any feeling of sustained closeness with the characters.

Danger Close Games does a better job of creating intense scenarios that are based on real-life events. With help from consulting members of the special forces, the developer takes on hostage situations in the Philippines and a search for a bomb maker in Eastern Europe. The developer did such accurate work re-creating some aspects of these missions that the military advisers to the game were recently reprimanded for giving away secrets.

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I'm not sure what those could be -- perhaps it was sniper level against the Somali pirates -- but it does give "Warfighter" more intrigue. It's more incentive for players to go through the levels to figure out which situations are real and which ones had some Hollywood embellishments.

But that devotion to "ripped from the headlines" events does has detriments. Although it helps diversify the locales, it's hard to weave a compelling story that integrates these disparate incidents. "Warfighter" is a game where there are several good moments but the plot of searching for PETN fails to cohesively hold them together.

As for the gameplay, it's the standard shooter fare. The control scheme is designed more for console players than PC users. The ability to peek out from cover is helpful, especially when fighting in tight quarters such as a cave or aboard a ship. The breach element, where players bust through doors and take out enemies waiting behind it, adds a dash of strategy but it's relatively minor.

Danger Close does a decent job of mixing up the combat in the campaign. There are moments where players control a tanklike drone that overpowers enemy positions, and the game has its helicopter gunner moment that seems to be mandatory for all military shooters. Those are OK at attempts at varying the gameplay, but what I liked was the unexpected driving missions. Those do more to change the pace of "Warfighter" and keeps it from being stale.

As for multiplayer, it's fairly standard except for the emphasis on national special forces. Players can choose from 10 countries and play as each one's elite military units. They'll have to be unlocked and each special ops soldier has its own array of abilities and weaponry.

As for the maps, they're still focused on fast, close-quarter combat but the layouts aren't that interesting. It's about moving in teams and fighting off rivals be it in Team Deathmatch or rush mode. It's not as fast or frenetic as a "Call of Duty" match or as long and drawn out as "Battlefield 3" fight, but it's somewhere in between.

So will "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" help EA finally nab the top spot from "Call of Duty?" That's unlikely. Despite the better visuals and devotion to realism, the game doesn't do enough nor does it have that polish to win over shooting fans. "Warfighter" is a solid but unspectacular game that will scratch that military shooter itch but won't entice gamers to come back for more.